Yankee Dood It is a Warner Brothers Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...

 theatrical cartoon short released in 1956 and directed by Friz Freleng

Friz Freleng

Isadore "Friz" Freleng was an animator, cartoonist, director, and producer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros....

 and written by Warren Foster

Warren Foster

Warren Foster , was a writer, cartoonist and composer for the animation division of Warner Brothers and later with Hanna-Barbera....

. The title is a pun on Red Skelton

Red Skelton

Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American comedian who is best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, all while pursuing...

's famous "I Dood It" line from the Mean Widdle Kid routine.

Yankee Dood It was the last of three cartoons to be underwritten by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a philanthropic non-profit organization in the United States. It was established in 1934 by Alfred P. Sloan, Jr., then-President and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors.-Overview:...

, which also underwrote By Word of Mouse and Heir-Conditioned

Heir-Conditioned

Heir-Conditioned is a Warner Brothers Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short released in 1955 and directed by Friz Freleng and written by Warren Foster. Heir-Conditioned is the second of three Looney Tunes shorts underwritten by the Alfred P...

; like the other two, they are all available on Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6

Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6

Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 6 is a four-disc DVD box set collection of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. Following the pattern of one release each year of the previous volumes, it was released on October 21, 2008....

, Disc 2. This cartoon is also one of the rare cartoons where Sylvester has no speaking lines (except for "Ah-ha!" and "Sufferin' Succotash"), and thus there is no voice actor credit. Daws Butler

Daws Butler

Charles Dawson "Daws" Butler was a voice actor originally from Toledo, Ohio. He worked mostly for Hanna-Barbera and originated the voices of many famous animated cartoon characters, including Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, and Huckleberry Hound.Daws Butler trained many working actors...

 voiced the shoemaker, and Arthur Q. Bryan

Arthur Q. Bryan

Arthur Quirk Bryan was a United States comedian and voice actor, remembered best for his longtime recurring role as well-spoken, wisecracking Dr...

 voiced Elmer Fudd

Elmer Fudd

Elmer J. Fudd/Egghead is a fictional cartoon character and one of the most famous Looney Tunes characters, and the de facto archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheon . His aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring...

.

Synopsis

This cartoon short is based on the fairy tale

Fairy tale

A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...

 The Elves and the Shoemaker

The Elves and the Shoemaker

The Elves and the Cobbler or The Shoemaker and the Elves is an often copied and re-made story about a poor shoemaker who receives much-needed help from elves....

, set 150 years after that story took place (in the mid-19th century). Elmer Fudd

Elmer Fudd

Elmer J. Fudd/Egghead is a fictional cartoon character and one of the most famous Looney Tunes characters, and the de facto archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon pantheon . His aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring...

 is the progressive King of industrial Elves. He visits an outmoded shoemaker's shop to extol the virtues of mass production capitalism to the shoemaker, whose pet cat, Sylvester

Sylvester (Looney Tunes)

Sylvester J. Pussycat, Sr., Sylvester the Cat or simply Sylvester, is a fictional character, a three-time Academy Award-winning anthropomorphic Tuxedo cat in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies repertory, often chasing Tweety Bird, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippety Hopper...

, uses the magic word, "Jehosophat" to turn Fudd's elf helper into a mouse and chases him around the shoemaker's shop. Saying "Rumpelstiltskin

Rumpelstiltskin

Rumpelstiltskin is the eponymous character and protagonist of a fairy tale which originated in Germany . The tale was collected by the Brothers Grimm, who first published it in the 1812 edition of Children's and Household Tales...

" changes him back to an elf.

External links

• Reason Magazine - Elfinomics Discussion of economic content of cartoon